This is a beautiful resort, but we were extremely frustrated by our stay here, especially given the price point.
The Good: The grounds are gorgeous. The spa was incredible (although pricey- you are getting what you pay for!) The restaurants and amenities are great. We especially loved the Sunday brunch at Rita’s. The pool was clean, beautiful, and well-stocked with towels, water, etc. Parking was easy, convenient, and free. Most staff were extremely warm and professional.
The Bad: We were placed in a room where the AC was not functioning. The temperature increased throughout the afternoon and evening. At one point we were told it had been looked at and fixed. It had not. We were eventually switched to a different room late in the evening, in which the AC was also not functioning. It was late and we were tired so we went to sleep and reported it the next morning. Although they did get the AC in that second room working that second afternoon, it stopped working again in the middle of the night and we woke up very warm. We were actually happy to be checking out that day. We were told our stay would be comped in points, although we were only given points to cover about one night. We were sick of having to complain and track people down at this point so we didn’t bother trying to resolve this issue. When you are paying $900 a night for a hotel room in AZ, you expect functioning AC. Full stop.
Another thing to consider if booking on the weekends: the pool was very loud, crowded, and rowdy on the Saturday we arrived. We were told by a staff member the next day that there were two weddings and a birthday party going on that day/evening. She said they had gone through more alcohol than she had even seen since working there. We heard from another staff member that they sell a lot of resort day passes, which increases pool attendance on weekends. If you’re looking for a peaceful pool experience, I’d avoid the weekends or consider paying up for the adult pool. It’s not cheap, it’s small, and you’re not totally shielded from the noise of the main pool, but it was certainly an improvement when we booked a spot on Sunday. On Monday morning before we checked out, the pool was amazing- quiet, peaceful, plenty of space.
Although this resort is gorgeous, we probably wouldn’t return given the issues we had. We had really high expectations staying at a resort of this caliber/price point and it just didn’t meet them. We totally get that circumstances arise that are out of the control of hotel staff, but we ultimately didn’t feel like the AC issue was handled appropriately.
